Tag Archives: history

Theodore Roosevelt National Park

October 16, 2018 Raven About The Parks Leave a comment

Overview

Located in western North Dakota, Theodore Roosevelt National Park is where Teddy came in 1883 to become a cattle rancher prior to his political career. The park is divided into a North and South Unit (in different Time Zones), each with impressive vistas and wildlife. It is home to a demonstration herd of longhorn steers and free-ranging wild horses, plus reintroduced bison, bighorn sheep, and elk.

Highlights

Historic cabin, badlands, petrified forest, wildlife, hiking

Must-Do Activity

Teddy Roosevelt’s Maltese Cross cabin was relocated to the park’s South Unit visitor center, which is easily accessible off Interstate 94, as is the Painted Canyon Overlook and trail. A portion of the 36-mile paved scenic loop road is closed indefinitely due to melting from a decades long underground coal fire.

Best Trail

Wind Canyon Loop Trail in the South Unit is less than half a mile in length but offers an opportunity to walk on the eroding slopes of the badlands and an excellent vista of the Little Missouri River. We have also backpacked on the North Petrified Forest Trail, where we woke up near a sleeping bison bull (see photo below).

Instagram-worthy Photo

Cannonball concretions are sandstone spheres formed by groundwater and can be seen only in the North Unit badlands.

Peak Season

Summer, but late September has good fall colors.

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/thro/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

$30 per vehicle or America the Beautiful pass

Road Conditions

The scenic drives are paved, and the gravel roads in the park are good enough for a passenger vehicle when dry, including the 60 mile drive to Elkhorn Ranch.

Camping

There are large campgrounds in both the North and South Unit.

Bison can be seen in both the North and South Unit of the park

Scott in the petrified forest

Petrified wood

Tiff on the North Petrified Forest Trail

We woke up and saw this bison too close to our tent so we quietly left and came back later to pack up

This design we created to celebrate Theodore Roosevelt National Park is available on a variety of products at Cafe Press and Amazon.

Cafe Press

Explore More – The death of which two important women in his life led Roosevelt to flee New York for North Dakota in 1884?

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North Carolina

Cape Lookout National Seashore

October 15, 2018 Raven About The Parks Leave a comment

Overview

There are no roads in North Carolina’s Cape Lookout National Seashore, but vehicles can drive the beach nearly the entire 56-mile length of these Outer Banks barrier islands. A passenger ferry leaves from Beaufort, North Carolina to access the Shackleford Banks where feral horses reside. Cape Lookout is on the South Core Banks, a great spot for camping, surf fishing, kite flying, and beachcombing. This island is accessible aboard a passenger ferry from Harkers Island and a vehicle ferry from Davis.

Highlights

Historic lighthouse, undeveloped beaches, seashells, beach camping

Must-Do Activity

If you enjoy beach camping, then you must spend at least one night on the islands. Go beachcombing in the morning after watching the sunrise light up Cape Lookout Lighthouse.

Best Trail

There are boardwalks around the ferry landing and lighthouse, otherwise just walk the beaches.

Instagram-worthy Photo

The majestic 163-foot tall Cape Lookout Lighthouse (wearing argyle) is the icon of this national seashore and looks best at sunset and sunrise.

The lighthouse sticking out of the low fog — Find this photo and many others for sale on Imagekind.

Peak Season

Summer (if there is not a hurricane forecast)

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/calo/planyourvisit/basicinfo.htm

Fees

Free to visit and camp, $16 roundtrip per adult for passenger ferry, sometimes a charge to climb to the top of the lighthouse

Road Conditions

Paved to the ferry docks in Beaufort and Harkers Island, sandy on outer islands (4×4 required)

Camping

Camping is free on the beaches, but unless you have your own boat you will need to pay for a ferry ride out there. The oceanfront section of beach near Cape Lookout Lighthouse is closed to vehicles, making it perfect for backpackers.

Our campsite

IMGP0809

Pelican at sunrise

Tiff with her collection of shells she found — Seashell hunting out here is great; and yes, the National Park Service allows you to take a reasonable amount home.

Short billed dowitchers

Lighthouse reflection

Explore More – When was the Cape Lookout Lighthouse built?

WONDON WAS HERE

New York

Fort Stanwix National Monument

October 11, 2018 Raven About The Parks Leave a comment

Overview

After FDR protected this very first historic site within the National Park Service (NPS) system in 1935, Fort Stanwix was finally reconstructed in the 1970s after demolishing the existing buildings in downtown Rome, New York. Visitors today will surely agree it was worth the effort, as were the recent updates in the excellent Visitor Center.

Stanwix

Highlights

Reconstructed fort, best historical museum in the NPS System

Must-Do Activity

The NPS museum inside the Marinus Willett Visitor Center is superb with videos and kiosks providing four different characters’ perspectives on the events of the American Revolution in Upstate New York. There are also costumed reenactors inside the fort, another reason why this National Monument is an example of historical interpretation at its best.

Best Trail

A short trail follows a portion of the Oneida Carrying Place and another leads to the historic Erie Canal.

Instagram-worthy Photo

Viewed from the drawbridge, you get an up-close look at the parapet and fraise (sharpened wooden stakes) of the reconstructed Fort Stanwix.

Peak Season

Spring to fall

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/fost/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

None

Road Conditions

All paved, but parking is limited

Camping

None within the 16-acre monument, but Delta Lake State Park is only 6 miles away.

IMGP0542

IMGP0510 — The free museum inside the Marinus Willett Center is first rate.

IMGP0519 — Fort Stanwix was originally built by the British during the French and Indian War

Americans rebuilt the abandoned fort during the Revolutionary War and survived a 21 day siege in 1777

IMGP0538 — Something in this photo is not historically accurate.

Explore More – The portage called the Oneida Carrying Place (one to 6 miles depending upon water levels) connected which two important waterways?

WONDON WAS HERE

New Hampshire

Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park

October 5, 2018 Raven About The Parks Leave a comment

Overview

The only site in New Hampshire administered by the National Park Service (NPS) is dedicated to Augustus Saint-Gaudens, an Irish born immigrant that studied art in Paris and Rome. On this country estate he utilized beginning in 1885, he converted a barn into his sculpture studio. Other artists flocked to “Aspet” until his death in 1907.

Gaudens

Highlights

Home and sculptures of famous 19th-century artist, sculptor-in-residence program

Must-Do Activity

A tour ticket is required to enter the house and is included with your admission fee. While you are waiting, explore the many marble, plaster, and bronze castings of Saint-Gaudens’ work located around the property, including his famous Shaw Memorial whose original can still be found in Boston. A new cast of one of his Abraham Lincoln statues was added in 2016 during the NPS Centennial.

Best Trail

The quarter-mile Ravine Trail starts at the Ravine Studio, the workshop of the sculptor-in-residence. Blow-Me-Down Trail runs 2 miles between the Temple and a swimming hole.

Instagram-worthy Photo

Take a photo of “Aspet” house from the porch of Little Studio framed by the vine-draped arbor.

View of the house from the patio of the studio — Find this photo and others for sale on Imagekind

Peak Season

Summer as exhibit buildings are closed November through late May

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/saga/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

$10 per adult or America the Beautiful pass

Road Conditions

All roads paved, but parking is limited.

Camping

None at this park, but Mt. Ascutney State Park is short drive away across the border in Vermont.

Covered bridge connecting New Hampshire and Vermont

Tapestry inside Saint-Gaudens house

This historic cast of Abraham Lincoln by Saint-Gaudens was installed in 2016

Shaw Memorial can also be seen in Boston Common — The Shaw Memorial took Saint-Gaudens 14 years to complete. This cast was completed in 1997.

Tiff in the studio with a Diana sculpture also found on Madison Square Garden — Diana sculptures like this top Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Victory

Explore More – Why does the gift shop sell a stuffed animal goat named Seasick?

WONDON WAS HERE

Nebraska

Scotts Bluff National Monument

October 3, 2018 Raven About The Parks Leave a comment

Scotts Bluff National Monument

Nebraska

Managed by National Park Service

Established 1919

3,005 acres

Website: nps.gov/scbl

Overview

If the names of Scotts Bluff and Chimney Rock sound familiar, it is perhaps because you grew up playing The Oregon Trail computer game on a Macintosh in the early 1990s. The massive 800-foot tall sandstone cliffs enclosed within Scotts Bluff National Monument were once the unofficial one-third mark along the historic trail, as well as a landmark along the California Trail, the Mormon Pioneer Trail, and the short-lived Pony Express Trail.

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Highlights

Museum, vistas, historic trail, only road tunnels in Nebraska

Must-Do Activity

While we recommend the hike to the top from the visitor center, you should probably also drive up there, because these are the only three tunnels dug for a road in the entire state of Nebraska.

Best Trail

Saddle Rock Trail leads from the parking lot at the visitor center 1.6-miles up the 800-foot tall bluff through a tunnel carved in the sandstone for great views of distant Chimney Rock National Historic Site (an affiliated NPS unit), another prominent Nebraska landform noted by early emigrants.

Instagram-worthy Photo

Pose with the oxen sculptures pulling a wagon up Mitchell Pass in front of Scotts Bluff.

Peak Season

Summer (watch for prairie rattlesnakes)

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/scbl/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

$5 per vehicle or America the Beautiful pass

Road Conditions

All roads paved

Camping

There is not a campground within the monument, but the adjacent cities of Scottsbluff and Gering have RV parks and dispersed camping is available in Nebraska National Forest.

Jewel Cave National Monument (South Dakota)

Badlands National Park (South Dakota)

Nearest National Park

Wind Cave